Speed skaters end World Cup season with five short track medals in Netherlands
Feature photo: Charle Cournoyer celebrates his 1000m short track gold medal at the ISU World Cup event in Toronto on Nov. 8, 2015.
Canadian speed skaters picked up a full set of medals, including a gold from Charle Cournoyer in the final ISU World Cup event on Sunday in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Sochi 2014 Olympian Cournoyer, made Canada’s final World Cup medal of the season golden, with a men’s 1000m victory. After finishing third in the event last weekend in Dresden, the Canadian prevailed and raced onto the top of the podium in one minute 26.380 seconds. Jiwon Park of Korea held onto second place (1:27.015), while Semen of Elistratov placed third in 1:25.957.
World Cup season: Montreal | Toronto | Nagoya | Shanghai | Dresden
Two-time Olympian Valérie Maltais also scored a 1000m medal in a tight race that resulted in a photo finish. The Canadian nabbed the silver medal in 1:33.182 just behind Korea’s Noh Do Hee, who won in 1:33.041. China’s Tao Jiaying’s claimed the final podium spot in 1:33.202, while Canada’s Namasthee Harris-Gauthier finished fourth.
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Marianne St-Gelais claimed her second medal of the weekend, after she finished third in the 500m with a time of 42.909 seconds. The gold medal went to Netherlands’ Elise Christie who won in 42.651s, followed by Choi Minjeong of China’s 42.686. St-Gelais led Canada’s World Cup medal haul this season with 14 podium finishes in six competitions. The Canadian won 11 of 12 possible individual World Cup medals this season, in addition to three in women’s relays.
The men’s 5000m relay team was named the overall World Cup season champions on Sunday. The short track team’s successful 2015-16 season boasted an impressive 44 medals, the second highest in Canadian history since winning 47 in 2002-03.
Saturday, February 13
Canadian short track speed skaters kicked off the final ISU World Cup event, with a gold and bronze medal.
Olympic medallist Marianne St-Gelais increased her World Cup medal count to 13 after winning the women’s 1500m. St-Gelais won the event in 2:27.618, ahead of Guo Yihan of China (2:28.665) and Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands (2:28.105), who battled to second and third respectively. Canadian Audrey Phaneuf also competed in the women’s final and finished sixth in 2:29.137.
After missing the 1000m World Cup podium last weekend in Dresden, Jamie MacDonald took her shot at redemption and claimed bronze. Elise Christie of Netherlands won the title in front of home fans, winning in 1:30.616. Choi Minjeong of China raced 1:31.279 to finish second ahead of MacDonald’s 1:31.460.
